A highly visible Tennessee store devoted to President Donald Trump merchandise is going out of business, and its owner says the explanation is considerably simpler than retirement.
The Tennessee Trump Store, located just off Interstate 40 in Lenoir City near Knoxville, is clearing out its remaining inventory at a 50% discount as it prepares to close.
An earlier report from Knox News attributed the closure to 80-year-old owner William “Bill” Hays retiring and spending more time in Florida. Hays has since disputed that account.
“I’m not retiring, not moving down,” Hays told Slate. He said he owns two condos in Naples, Florida, along with other businesses, but then supplied his own reason for shutting down the store.
“I don’t think she wanted to say we were closing for lack of business, but that’s why we’re closing,” Hays said.
The Trump Store Used to Draw Crowds
There has never been much mystery about what the building sells.
Huge Trump signs and banners cover the roadside property, while a small brick structure outside has been labeled the “Democrat Superstore.”
The business opened in 2024 and, according to Hays and an employee identified only as Dan, once attracted considerably more traffic.
Hays recalled the surge after the July 2024 assassination attempt against Trump in Pennsylvania: “People were waiting to walk in the door. Everybody was going ‘Choo Choo Trump train,’ and this whole building was moving. I mean, it was just, it was unbelievable.”
Dan remembered counting 86 visitors on one particularly busy day and said other major political events temporarily sent customers through the doors.
Those bursts have not continued.
Asked about the shop’s current traffic, Dan gave a much shorter assessment: “We’re not busy anymore.”
Hays said he does not intend to sell the property and expects to put it to another commercial use.
Is Interest in Trump Really Declining?
Dan offered his own explanation for the drop in customer traffic.
He told Slate that he believes Trump’s popularity has been declining and said some Republican customers are dealing with household budgets that leave less money for discretionary purchases such as political merchandise.
“People really are saying, ‘I don’t know if I’m going to do a full load of groceries or I’m going to put my electric bill on a credit card this month.’”
One store cannot measure a president’s political support, and slower sales at an independent merchandise business do not establish why its customers stopped shopping.
There is, however, outside data that provides context for what Dan described.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted Aug. 14 through Aug. 17 found that 33% of Americans approved of Trump’s job performance, while 64% disapproved. His approval rating was down from 35% earlier in August and tied the lowest level recorded during his first term in 2017.
Household finances are also showing signs of strain. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell from 55.2 in July to 51.0 in August, according to Reuters. The decline was widespread across political affiliations, with Republican sentiment falling to its lowest level since the 2024 election.
Those figures do not prove that falling approval ratings or household finances caused the Tennessee store’s decline. They do show that Hays and Dan are describing their experience during a period when Trump’s national approval has fallen and consumers are reporting increased concern about living costs.
There are other possible explanations that cannot be measured without the store’s sales records and customer data. People who wanted Trump hats, shirts, flags, and other merchandise have also had years to acquire them.
The verified fact is narrower: Hays says the store is closing because it no longer has enough business, and his employee says customer traffic has fallen considerably from its earlier highs.
Trump Merchandise Is Still Big Business
The Tennessee shop should not be confused with the Trump Organization’s own Trump Store, which is an entirely separate business.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington reported in April that the Trump Organization’s store introduced at least 622 products during the first 14 months of Trump’s second term.
Financial disclosures reviewed by the organization showed approximately $8.8 million in Trump Store sales during 2024, more than twice the amount reported for 2023.
That broader business provides a useful counterweight to the Tennessee closure. Trump-branded merchandise continues to generate millions of dollars nationally even as this particular independent retailer says it no longer has enough customers to keep operating.
For Hays, the explanation remains much more local.
The crowds that once packed his Interstate 40 store simply are not showing up anymore.